History of Citroen

﻿In 1919 the company was founded "Citroen", one of the largest automotive companies in Europe. The first model of the brand has become one of the most popular cars of the 20th century. Compact Citroen And was powered by a 1.3-litre power unit, the capacity of which amounted to 18 horsepower. The combination of a light body, a powerful and reliable engine, as well as the low price model, provided the popularity of Citroen cars.

After the first success, the brand began to create several cars, the company's founder andré citroën was fascinated by the idea to create such a machine, which could become a platform for the creation of several models. At the same time, the production model And was over a hundred instances a day. However, in 1921, was presented Citroen 5 CV Trefle, who promptly replaced the model And as the pace of sales is gradually falling.

In parallel, it is Andre Citroen was the first in the world to apply PR solutions in the automotive sector, which led to the conquest of the popularity of the brand outside of France. By the end of the 20s "Citroen" had offices in all major European countries.

In 1929 were represented by just two models - B12 and B14, who won the title of the most comfortable cars in its time. This was confirmed sales of automobiles Citroen, which has sold in over 135 thousand in just two years of production. And in 1931 was presented following the model of Citroen Grand Suite, which became the first premium car company. The machine was equipped with a revolutionary for the European market of 2.7-litre power unit, with a capacity of 53 horsepower. By 1933, the "Citroen" under the direction of andré became the largest car manufacturer on the continent, ahead of Italian FIAT and increasing production cars up to 1.1 thousand copies a day.

However, already in 1934 unexpectedly dropped the demand for company cars "Citroen", which by that time had invested all their assets in new plants and technology centers, and thus, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. One of the reasons for such a rapid collapse became a global economic crisis. 2 months after the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings, 60% of the shares were repurchased by the manufacturer of car tires Michelin.

Still a few months away from the life of company founder andré citroën. However, the heirs of the legends of the automotive industry, have tried to rectify the situation, that it took them two decades. In 1955 was presented model Citroen DS, which has become very popular in the automotive market in France and Italy. The company was first able to make a profit, which was not more than twenty years. However, the period from 1955 to 1969 were not successful for the company Citroen. In 1976 mark "Citroen" became part of the largest at that time carmaker France - Peugeot.

In the first half of the 90s of the twentieth century mark "Citroen" produces models such as Santa, Saxo and Berlingo, gradually returning to its original grandeur. Moreover, we have begun active preparations for the participation in several racing series. At the same time, on light there are several models of different classes. The first of these was the model of Citroen C4 pertaining to compact class C according to European classification, followed by C3 - B class, and C5 - D class.

In 2004, just two years after beginning participation in the world rally championship, the French driver Sebastien Loeb, driving a Citroen Casar is the winner of the General classification. Then followed his victory on cars C4, C3 and DS3, bringing the overall win to 9. Thus, taking part in the 12 seasons of the championship, set a record for number of wins in the history of the WRC.

The model range of the company, on a background of success in competitions, has added sports versions of well-known models, and in 2007, was presented to the first crossover of the company "Citroen", built on the platform of the Mitsubishi Outlander. In 2011 was presented another model of the compact crossover, which became one of the most popular cars on the market in France for 2012.

The new direction of the company was the creation of a unique design. Due to the fact that all technological development was carried out together with Peugeot, they did not require a huge investment.